--An Uzbekistan recap by Billmon, and

--the memo.

Go.

This showed up in the mailbox the other day, thought I'd take the liberty of sharing it here.

A Federal Bankruptcy Court ruling will allow United Airlines to default on its pensions. And the DC Court of Appeals has decided that Dick Cheney can keep his energy task force records secret.

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 15, 2005) -- Legislation that would create a specialty license plate to help purchase body armor for Oklahoma’s military personnel has been approved by a House committee.

If the measure becomes law, Oklahoma drivers would be able to purchase “Patriot License Plates” to demonstrate support of local troops while contributing to their safety. For every $35 plate purchased, $20 would be deposited into a fund administered by the Oklahoma Military Department for the purchase of body armor for Oklahoma soldiers.

State Rep. Ryan Kiesel, D-Seminole, originally proposed the idea through House Bill 1420, but Monday the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security chose to integrate his measure into House Bill 1286, which establishes new requirements for creating specialty license plates.

Committee members unanimously supported an amendment to include Kiesel’s proposal in HB 1286. “I am thrilled to see that the Patriot Plates are receiving support,” the freshman lawmaker said. “This is a simple, voluntary and cost-effective way for Oklahomans to show their support for our men and women in uniform.”

He said the idea for the legislation stemmed from visits with soldiers in his district. “They were being sent to Afghanistan or Iraq with no body armor or Vietnam-era body armor.”

Story.

You know what? I don't want to hear righties explaining why sending soldiers into a war zone without adequate equipment is just standard operating procedure, why it's perfectly reasonable for this to be happening two years into a conflict, blah blah blah--it's just criminal. Period, end of story, and no specious justification or rationalization will change that simple fact.

I don't know what Arianna H. is shooting for with this unwieldy monster--but if it's a blog, then blogging has well and truly jumped the shark, and the term no longer has any meaning whatsoever beyond "random words posted on the internet."

Apologies. The amount of time required to compose a passable cartoon seems to have expanded with the onset of warm weather--the more I want to be outside, the longer I am chained to the desk. Add to this preparations for the next book and various other mundane business matters, and what you end up with is a neglected blog.

The pub date for that book, incidentally, is Winter '06, but it'll be worth the wait--it's going to have more cartoons than my usual every-two-years compilation (as distinct from the Big Book treasury) and--this is the very cool part--it's going to be entirely in color.

In other merchandise news, these bad boys should be available for sale within the next few weeks...

The photo doesn't do them justice, I really can't express how fricking massive they are...

(photo of sparky & blinky removed due to tech difficulties--back up soon).